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The Senate has reassured Nigerians that the Second Niger Bridge would be completed by February 2022 as the project was receiving adequate funding by the Federal Government.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Adamu Aliero, gave the assurance when he led members of his committee on a tour of the bridge and other road projects in the South East.
The 11.9 kilometer-long bridge was awarded by the Federal Government to Julius Berger on September 1, 2018 at the cost of N206.1 billion.
He said apart from funding from budgetary allocation, the project enjoyed funding from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and from monies recovered from various sources. Aliero said with the pace of work on the project, the committee was optimistic that the contractor would complete the bridge on schedule.
“The Second Niger Bridge has been on the drawing board for quite a long time. We are happy with what we have seen; the completion of this bridge has come to reality. The contractor has massively mobilised to site. It is a very big engineering project, perhaps one of the biggest in the country and it was awarded at a cost well over N200 billion and the completion date is Feb. 2022.
“Nigerians are going to have the Second Niger bridge and congratulations to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for funding this project and for making arrangements to ensure that this bridge is completed,” Aliero said.
Ike Ekweremadu, who is also a member of the committee lauded President Buhari for the commitment to the project saying on completion, it would be a beautiful edifice to behold.
“I have been involved in the project since when President Olusegun Obasanjo conceived it, and Jonathan came with me to lay the foundation stone and when President Buhari started this extensive construction. I am happy and impressed with the extent of work. I want to thank Julius Berger for their commitment as well. I believe the work will be completed in good time in 2022. This will be a major gift from President Buhari to South-East of which we are very grateful,” he said.
Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President, said that the bridge, when completed, would be an edifice to behold.
Project Manager, Mr Stefan Uelzmann, said the company enjoyed the support of the Federal Government noting “we actually have no issues.”
Federal Controller of Works in Anambra, Mr. Adeyemo Ajani, said that while constructing the bridge, measures had been taken to tackle any flood related incident.
